Rangers, Apprentices, Knights, Oh My!
by HermioneK
Summary: A series of one-shots.
1. Poor Will

Halt was inside the kitchen, bustling about when he suddenly heard the sound of his apprentice stepping up to the porch. He heard the door open, as he expected it to, and then heard Will close it.

Will had gone to Castle Redmont for reasons that he would not divulge to Halt, to Halt's extreme annoyance.

"Why the blazes can't you tell me what's going on?" asked the grizzled Ranger. Will said nothing in response. This whole situation angered Halt because usually _he_ was the one withholding information, not the other way around. It simply wasn't right for an apprentice to be so secretive! It went against the Ranger and Apprentice code book (which Halt was fairly certain existed)!

"Welcome back," Halt muttered from the kitchen. He was busy preparing coffee for the two of them to drink while talking. Halt was going to receive some answers, by Gorlog's teeth, otherwise Will would be sleeping in the stables tonight, and that was that!

Will said not a word but walked straight to his room.

That's odd, thought Halt. He'll come out eventually. There's not a Ranger in all of Araluen that can withstand the smell of coffee!

To Halt's extreme satisfaction, an hour later, Will emerged from his room. Halt was shocked to see that he was still wearing his mottled cloak. Neither of them were in the habit of wearing it indoors, as they felt there was no need to. Why would they need to sneak around invisibly indoors?

"Will, by Gorlog's beard, why are you wearing that cloak inside?"

Will, still silent, merely flipped his hood down in a manner that he thought would appeal to his mentor.

Halt inspected him, checking to see if he was all right. He had been acting strange. His sandy hair was in a permanent state of tangles, as usual. His big brown eyes appeared to be normal. His freckles still shone upon his cheeks. His lips looked a little chapped, if anything. But that was to be expected after horse riding, Halt added subconsciously. All his limbs were intact, no broken bones or anything. He didn't appear to be walking with a limp or any other abnormalities. "What's wrong?"

Will simply took an appreciative sip of his coffee.

Trying to see what was wrong, Halt sat across from Will and squinted at him. He shoved a plate of food across the table, and only when Halt was not looking did Will tentatively take a bite.

This same 'eat-when-Halt's-not-looking' game went on for a few minutes, until Will flinched and cried out in pain, his eyes watering.

Halt jerked his head around and looked concernedly at his apprentice, who was clutching his mouth and biting his lip in order not to cry.

Will waved his concern away and continued eating. Suddenly, Halt snapped his head around to see what Will was hiding while Will was in mid-bite. Will coughed and spit the food out, but not before Halt snatched a glimpse of metal in his mouth that he thought at first was a fork.

"Will, have you gotten braces?"

Will answered by glaring at him.

Halt's guffaws of laughter echoed around the cabin, making it sound like many people were mocking Will. He sniffled and wiped his face on the hem of his cloak.

Halt grinned at his apprentice, feeling sympathetic for him, but still laughing, just the same. He remembered when he had braces as a young lad in Hibernia. He could still recall how awful they were, to this day. "Feels like you've been punched in the mouth, right?"

Will nodded miserably while his eyes watered from accidentally biting a piece of food too visciously.

Halt continued laughing and Will continued trying to choke down his food. He eventually gave up. It was too much effort to eat, and he decided he'd go hungry tonight. Probably for a while, he cynically remarked. He couldn't take trying to eat, or being laughed at by Halt any longer.

He stood up from his meal and flicked his hood up in one graceful move, and stormed to his room and slammed the door.

Will hated his braces.


	2. Sniffles

Sniffles

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice. *Runs and cries in corner* I WANNA BE A RANGER! Also, I wrote this while I had a cold.**

"Will, hurry up!" cried out Halt. He rolled his eyes. This boy could be so petulant sometimes.

"Coming, Halt!" He yelled; tripping on his cloak while running around the corner and trying to strap his arm guard on at the same time.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes!"

The two men walked outside, step in step. They were going to a stakeout of the Temujai warriors today.

As they marched through the forest, Halt noticed something was amiss. But he couldn't place his finger on it. _What is wrong?_ He thought to himself.

They sat in their blind in the forest, Halt sipping his coffee; Will drinking his hot chocolate.

Halt still heard the noise, but couldn't place his finger on it.

_Sniffle. Sniffle. Sniffle._

There it was again!

_Sniffle. Sniffle. Sniffle._

"Will, do you know what that abhorrently ghastly noise is?"

"No, sir!"

Halt and Will sat there for a while longer, with the odd noise continuing in the background.

Finally, Halt knew what the noise was.

"Will do you have a cold?"


	3. High Heels

To any normal person, it would sound as if it were a normal, ordinary person getting ready for a normal, ordinary day. But to a trained Ranger like Will, who was always keen and alert, it sounded as if a herd of elephants were crashing through his cabin. Even though he'd never seen hide nor hair of an elephant in his entire life, he'd heard they were big and noisy, and were good metaphors for apprentices in general. Will furrowed his brow in thought and stood up. He rested his shoulder on the doorframe and leaned into the room. "What's this?" he raised an eyebrow.

"What's what?"

"Those," frowned Will, looking disdainfully at her feet.

"Oh, these?" she laughed, lifting a foot in the air to better look at her shoes. "I bought them on sale from a little market in Wensley! Half off, too! What a steal!"

On his apprentice's feet were a pair of clunky, loud, high heels, at least seven centimeters tall.

As he walked over to scorn her, Will was startled to see that she was now taller than him.

"Off," he said simply, glaring.

"Yeah, half off! Aren't they great?"

"No." His apprentice looked crestfallen. "Take them off. Now."

"Aw, but Wiiiiill," she whined. "Why? They're so cute!"

"They're loud, clunky, easy to trip in, and not good for running. They're not fitting for a Ranger."

"Oh, you don't think I could run in these?"

Will crossed his arms.

"Oh ho," she puffed, crossing her arms. "We'll just see about that."

"Fine," said Will. "I'll race you to the stables."

A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, and she took off running; out the door, jumping over the porch railing and down the hill, before Will had even started.

"Hey!" he shouted. "No fair!"

Despite running as fast as he could, his apprentice still beat him. In heels.

"F-Fine," Will panted, hands on his knees. "You…won." He wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve and straightened up, giving a cough. "But you still can't walk quietly in them. They make way too much noise."

To his surprise, his apprentice pulled out two pieces of cloth from her pocket. She slipped them over her feet like gloves. She winked at Will, then walked up and down he stable, not making a sound. The foot-gloves effectively silenced her step.

She turned and looked smugly at Will, as if saying, "See? I told you so."

Will pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine," he sighed, defeated. "You can keep the shoes-"

"Oh, thank you, Will!" She ran and hugged him.

"-but _don't_ let them interfere with training."

"They won't," she promised.


	4. Will's Day Off

It was a chilly, autumn day, and as the wind blew through the trees, it seemed to blow through Will himself. He shivered and pulled his cloak tighter around his small frame.

Halt had given him a rare bit of free time, and he decided to spend it in the forest, where he felt his best.

He eyed a large oak tree, sizing it up. It had plenty of good hand- and footholds, and even some cozy-looking crooks in the branches. He rubbed his hands together, preparing himself for his climb.

As he grabbed the tree and climbed, his hood fell back of his head. He grunted slightly with exertion before hoisting himself up even higher.

He paused for a moment when he spotted a good resting point, about fifteen metres in the air. He sat in the corner of two branches and nestled himself in his cloak, sitting in a cozy bundle.

He awoke what seemed, to him, only moments later. The only reason he knew he had dozed off was his nodding head. He jerked his head up and gasped slightly. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and vowed that he would climb even higher.

Will was having so much fun, he didn't even realize that it was almost time for supper. He looked to the west and saw that the sun had long ago passed its zenith and was ever-approaching the horizon. Halt's cabin was really tiny from Will's point of view. In fact, Will could cover the cabin with his thumb if he closed one eye. The thought amused Will. Halt would be expecting him soon.

And, sure enough, as soon as Will had the thought, Halt stuck his head out the door and called for him.

"Will? Will?" His calls echoed through the forest.

You wouldn't know it, though Will wryly, but Halt could be pretty loud when he wanted to. He looked down at the tree, searching for footholds to take him to the ground. He saw, a few metres below, the place where he had rested earlier.

"It's time for supper," Halt said.

"I'm coming." Will frowned. If he didn't climb down soon, he'd be late to dinner. Which meant extra chores. It was only the third week of his apprenticeship, but he had learned quickly that apprentices did chores. If apprentices needed punishment, they did _more_chores.

He used his foot to search for a way down. He toed each branch carefully, looking for one that could safely hold his weight. His heart started to pound as his search turned up empty handed-well, empty footed.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

Will jumped, grabbling at the tree. In his shock, he had momentarily loosened his grip. Panicking, he now scrabbled with all his might. Once his hands were safely wrapped around the tough bark of the tree, he looked down at Halt. He hadn't heard him coming; he was going to have to get used to Halt sneaking up on him. That, or he'd have to learn to sense Halt's arrival.

"Well, um…" he said, stalling for time. "I'm…inspecting this tree!" He grabbed the first idea that came into his head and went with it. "Yeah! I'm inspecting it…for…for pests. Exactly. Baron Arald said they're quite common in maple trees."

"Will?"

"Yes?"

"That's an oak tree."

"…Did you say 'oak'? Ah, yes, that's what I meant! Isn't that what I said? Oak? These pests are very common in oak trees."

"And just what do these pests look like?"

Will's eyes widened. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up this charade. "Well, Halt, it's funny you ask. Y'see, they're a greenish color, covered in brown specks. Yes, they are green and brown speckled creatures. I saw one once, on the way to the bathroom at the ward. Startled me, yes it did. But I just smushed it with my foot and then I went to the bathroom and…well, you get the picture."

"Will?"

"Yes?"

"Are you stuck?"

"…Yes," Will said, dejected. He sighed and pounded his head on the tree bark in front of him. He could hear Halt snickering below him.

"Well," Halt said, "I never would have guessed."

Will glared at him. Suddenly, his anger gave way to a wave of panic. "What am I gonna do, Halt?" he cried, near tears.

"There's a good foothold to your left," said Halt.

"Where?"

"About a half a metre down."

Will felt around with his foot and felt a cry of desperation work its way up his throat. He swallowed hard and said "S'no good, Halt. I can't find it-"

"You're going to have to let go with your left hand to reach it."

Slowly, cautiously, Will let go. He was only reassured when, what felt like ages later, his foot touched a solid branch.

"Okay, now work your way to the right. There's a giant branch that you can get to pretty easily."

Will felt his way until he came to rest on the large branch. He clung tightly to the main trunk of the tree, not wanting to fall.

"You're not going to fall," said Halt impatiently.

"Says you," retorted Will. "This one time, Horace and I were climbing this tree-well, really I was climbing it, he was chasing me-anyhow, we were climbing and he couldn't get me because I was at the top with the really light branches-he can't get to those ones-and he was reaching for a branch and he slipped and- "

"Less talking, more climbing."

"Yes, Halt."

Halt continued to guide him down the tree until he neared the bottom. He was only a few metres away, and Halt was impatient for him to get down. He had dinner all ready cooked back home, and he really wanted to eat it. He turned away as he was sure Will could make it down the last couple of branches.

A worm of doubt nagged at Halt. He frowned and brushed it away, wanting to get back to the cabin. The boy had delayed him enough, after all. But as the doubt nagged more and more at him, he turned just in time to catch a falling Will.

Will screamed in fright before he even realized that he was safely in Halt's arms. He was not going to fall to his premature death.

"What was this I said about not falling?" Halt said ruefully to himself. "Leave it to you, Will, the only apprentice to fall out of a tree-"

Will suddenly burst into tears. "I'm sorry, Halt!" he cried, burrowing his head into Halt's chest.

"Woah, woah, bring the ship back to shore, here!" He set Will down on the grass and smoothed his cloak.

"What kind of Ranger can't even climb a tree? I'm a failure!"

"Will, you're not a failure," Halt reassured him.

"But I can't even climb a tree!"

"Yes, you can. Just because you made a mistake doesn't mean you're a total failure."

"Does that mean I can I still be a Ranger?"

"Not if you don't get inside and learn how to set a table properly."

And with that, Will scampered back inside and set the table perfectly.


	5. Araluen History Class

**Thank you so very much to the lovely Something Spiffy, who helped me figure out the dates! I live in America, and there weren't any fancy-schmancy dates or maps in our books! But apparently there are in Australia, so Something Spiffy helped clear it up for me! Thank you! **

**Also, some other minor edits: I typed "Halt Treaty" the first time. Whoops. And other grammatical things, nothing else huge. I did originally type this all in one shot very late at night the first time. (But when does anyone do anything NOT late at night?)**

"Good morning, class. Please pull out your history books and open them to page thirty-three. We'll start off with chapter four this morning," started the teacher. She had long, auburn hair and looked quite professional. "Can anyone read the chapter title?" She stood at the front of the class and peered around the class, deciding which student to choose. "Yes, Skinner, you please."

Skinner cleared his throat before starting. "History of Araluen: The 600s."

"Thank you, Skinner."

Skinner sat back in his seat, glowing at his teacher's praise. He always enjoyed being called on, especially when he knew the answer.

"Who are some of the 'important figures'?" asked the teacher, referring to the box with important historical figures bolded within it. "Susan, please."

"William Treaty, Halt O'Carrick, and Horace Altman," her voice rang clearly.

"Yes, thank you. Let's read the next paragraph, shall we?" she said, smiling. "Halt O'Carrick was one of the most famous members of the Ranger Corps in the mid 600s. He accomplished many things during his service for King Duncan I, including defeating Morgarath's Wargals with a cavalry force during the battle of Hackham Heath.

"Do you all remember that battle? We read about it in the previous chapter." Seeing the nods of her students, the teacher continued, "He also bred the special Ranger horses still seen roaming wildly today. He is credited with the mentorship of William Treaty, one of the most famous members of the Rangers Corps as well."

"Ma'am?"

"Yes, Sean?"

"Well, I was just wondering…what were the Ranger Corps again?"

"Does someone wish to answer Sean's question?" asked the teacher politely.

"The Ranger Corps was a secret society of men who defended Araluen in the middle ages. They were founded during King…Herbert's reign and were reformed by Halt O'Carrick. They were an intelligence force and also a type of police. There were fifty-one, one for each fief of Araluen."

"Great job, Skinner. Very impressive. Does that clear it up, Sean?"

Sean nodded affirmatively.

"William Treaty was raised an orphan in the ward of Castle Redmont, his home fief. His father died in the battle at Hackham Heath, saving Halt's life. Pretty interesting, huh?

"At the age of fifteen, in 664, he started his apprenticeship with Halt O'Carrick. Do you guys want to hear a cool fact?" After a dramatic pause, she said, full of a passion that only teachers can have, "He didn't even want to be a Ranger at first."

A few students gasped collectively, and a few even shouted "_What?_"

"Mm-hmm," said the teacher. "He wanted to be a knight but was too small. Has something similar ever happened to any of you?"

"W-Well, my daddy said that I can't drive his car till I get bigger," puffed Seamus. "But I wanna drive it now!"

"Very good," laughed the teacher. "Now, when Treaty was only fifteen, he killed one of the two Kalkara in Araluen. It's thanks to him that there aren't any left in Araluen today. If you look at page thirty-four, you can see a picture of what historians think a Kalkara might have looked like, though many aren't sure." The teacher paused while her students poured over the glossy pages of their history books, eyes widening as they saw a picture of the gruesome Kalkara.

"Treaty also prevented Morgarath from re-entering Araluen by burning a bridge built over Three Step Pass in the south. One of his most famous accomplishments, and also his namesake, was the treaty he discussed between Araluens and Skandians after the Skandian-Temujai war in 667. This treaty prevented Skandians from raiding in large parties in Araluen, and is one of the reasons we have good relations with them today. Does anyone know what the ancient treaty has been amended as?"

"The Monteferri Parley?" asked one of her students.

"Hm?" she questioned back. She couldn't stand a lack of confidence from her students. Either be completely wrong or completely right, she always said.

"The Monteferri Parley," repeated the student, firmly this time.

"Exactly," she said.

"Ma'am?"

"Yes?"

"What does…Horace A-Altman have to do with this?"

"Ah, you're jumping the gun, Timothy. We're getting to that right now. In fact, would you like to read the next paragraph for us?"

Timothy blushed, but did as he was told. "H-Horace Altman was also a w-ward in Castle Redmont. He was friends with Treaty and became a ka-nit? Kit?-"

"Knight," said the teacher.

"Knight," continued Timothy, "alongside Treaty. He went on many missions with Treaty and O'Carrick, and is credited with the assassination of Morgarath. He is one of the most famous warriors of medieval times."

"Ma'am?" asked Susan.

"Yes, Susan?"

"Were they really all connected?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, um…I mean, they're all connected." She squirmed uncomfortably, not exactly sure how to word what she was thinking. "Halt was Will's mentor, and they were the two best Rangers…and the two best Rangers just happened to be friends with the best warrior? And they all worked together?" she asked incredulously, doubting the legitimacy of her textbook.

"Yes, as incredible as it seems, they all knew each other and worked alongside each other for many years."

"Ma'am?"

"Yes, Susan?"

"What happened to them?"

"That's a very good question. I've read that Halt married a woman named Pauline. Will married another ward named Alyss, his childhood friend-" the class erupted in 'aww's, "-and had three kids. However, no one is quite sure what happened. It seems as if he and Halt simply disappeared. There's no mention of them after the year 679, although I am sure they lived longer than that. Horace, however, has been recorded many times afterwards. He married the Princess Cassandra, and therefore became crown Prince of Araluen in 676. They had four children. He knighted forty-seven men during his reign, a record. He served in twenty-nine battles and wars. He died when he was fifty-three, in Castle Redmont, where he was born. His funeral crowd was huge; about three thousand people were recorded to have been there."

Her class was silent, sitting in awe of the lesson they had just heard.

"Any more questions? No? Then you may go to recess."

The noisy scrape of plastic chairs on linoleum rang throughout the class as the children stood up from their desks to go outside and play.

"Rawwr, I'm a Kalkara," said Timothy.

"You don't stand a chance against me! I'm William Treaty!" said Susan, puffing out her chest. "I'm gonna shoot you with my bow and arrow!"

"Oh, come save me!" cried another girl.

"Don't worry, I've got you!" shouted Skinner, pretending to be Horace. He wielded an imaginary sword, hacking and swiping throughout the air, smashing potential enemies at every turn.

The teacher chuckled to herself as she sat grading the history tests. Her students could be so silly, and she loved the imagination and creativity they all possessed.


End file.
